Only Lovers Left Alive
by SpinnerOfYarns
Summary: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."


"Harry?"

"Yes?"

"Come inside, it's nearly five."

"I'll be right in."

Harry James Potter stood on a balcony, looking over the impressive garden underneath. He knew he should go inside, but he couldn't help but wonder once again, if there was even a point to it all. However, he couldn't exactly just stand there all night. And even if he could, Harry knew he wouldn't. It was nearly five, after all. With a nostalgic smile, he turned around and walked into the house. Even though there were only two of them now, it was tradition. And it was time.

* * *

Harry didn't remember his early Hogwarts years that clearly. Of course, his yearly adventures or 'astonishingly stupid brushes with death', as he now referred to them, stood out in his memory. The rest of it was was a constant blur of happiness and misery, of joy and disappointment. There was however one memory that he could recall with crystal clarity, and it happened in the summer before his second year of school...

 _It was Harry's first day at the Burrow, home of the Weasley family. Ron and the twins were outside, de-gnoming the garden. Even after stuffing Harry with as many servings as she possibly could, Mrs Weasley was quite adamant about him not lifting a finger to help. He was to remain indoors and recover from the terrible ordeal of being kidnapped by her children. Harry's half-hearted attempts to offer an excuse for the boys were brought to a stop when he realized he would need to explain his own situation with his relatives. Quite possibly in details. Well, a bit of yard work never hurt no one, Harry thought. And they do sound like they are having fun._

 _Sitting at the kitchen table, Daily Prophet spread out in front of him, Mr Weasley suddenly looked up from the paper._

 _"Molly dear, maybe the children should be done for the day. They do need a chance to wash up." he said._

 _"What? Oh dear, yes, you are right Arthur. I will call them in as soon as I'm done with this." Molly answered pointing to the potatoes efficiently peeling themselves in the kitchen sink._

 _Harry, thinking that he was obviously missing something, used the opportunity to quietly ask, "Umm, are you going somewhere?"_

 _They both looked at him, confused for a moment, "No dear." Molly said. "But it's nearly five."_

 _Seeing Harry's still confused expression and realizing that her explanation has not done much, Molly asked, "You must have at least heard about it at Hogwarts?"_

 _"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley, but I'm still not sure what you mean." Harry tried to explain himself._

 _She smiled her patented motherly smile at him, "No worries dear. Why don't you and Arthur go to the living room and get the wireless ready, while I make us a spot of tea. Arthur will explain it, won't you Arthur?"_

 _"Yes, yes, of course. Come along, Harry." said Arthur._

 _Obediently following after him, Harry wondered what in Merlin's name could this be about. Taking a seat in an armchair right next to the wizarding wireless, Mr Weasley looked on blankly, focused on a spot just somewhere above Harry's left ear._

 _"Mr Weasley?" Harry tried after a few minutes of silence._

 _"Yes, yes, just wondering where to begin. Not much of a storyteller I'm afraid, but I'll give it my best." Mr Weasley finally said._ _"Well, let's start somewhere in the middle, shall we? As good place as any."_

 _Harry made himself comfortable on the armchair across from Mr Weasley and unconsciously leaned in, eager to hear the story._

 _"Wizards never quite bothered with time." started Arthur. "You have probably observed by now that there is plenty that wizards do not bother with. When your lifespan is as long as ours is naturally, things take a whole new meaning. Time was simply not of the essence in wizard's mind. Then along came Nicolas Flamel, whose work gifted him with centuries of life, and our people were once again struck by the needlessness of keeping track of time. It didn't matter that none of them was able to create a philosopher's stone. The fact that it could be done just confirmed their opinion that time was irrelevant."_

 _"Somewhere around the 16th century, I think, Muggles invented the pocket watch." Mr Weasley's eyes sparkled a bit, as they would whenever the subject of Muggles came up. "Brilliant, they are. Young muggleborns of the time brought the invention to the attention of wizards."_

 _"You may have observed that wizards like to think themselves better than any other race, especially the purebloods." Here Harry nodded. "It didn't sit right with them that muggles were seen as innovators, even in our own community. So it was decided to adopt the concept of pocket watches and keeping time."_

 _"Of course, we wizards do tend to like to show off." Mr Weasley chuckled. "It wasn't very long before every wizard decided to add a bit of flare to their own pocket watch. So, you could see them showing lunar phases for example, or places, or the current brightness of Mars."_

 _"But, wizards soon realized that there was one thing that their pocket watches didn't reliably and consistently show. Time." Mr Weasley continued with a smirk. "For you see, they were familiar with the concept of pocket watches now, but they were still quite in the dark when it came to actually keeping time. When they realized that they were the ones who were supposed to adjust their watches to the correct time, they almost gave up on the whole ordeal. However, once again someone mentioned that Muggles were able to do it, and that was all that it took. Wouldn't do for the proud purebloods to give up on something that Muggles figured out. So naturally, they came up with the sundial!"_

 _Now, Harry did remember some of his lessons from primary, and he could recall that sundials were not quite as effective or precise as wizards seemed to believe. He was about to point that out, but Mr Weasley seemed to know what he wanted to say._

 _"Yes, yes, not the best method I know, but there is more!" He seemed almost giddy. "It was around that time that The International Confederation of Wizards was founded."_

 _Here Arthur paused, "You know, you really should be learning about this in History of magic. Ah, never mind. As I said, the ICW was founded and the work has already begun on the construction of their headquarters. The famous wizarding architect of that time, John Thorpe, who designed the ICW building, was quite peculiar in his own way. The troubles that wizards seemed to have with time amused him. You see, in his mind there was a simple solution for their problem, and he was quite happy to help. His final design was the most impressive structure wizards of that time have seen, rivaling even Hogwarts in its beauty. With Avebury and Stonehenge as his main sources of inspiration, he designed a circular building, similar to that of the Colosseum. And in that inner courtyard, surrounded by massive walls of the building, the biggest and the most precise sundial in the world stands. An exceptional instrument made for the sole purpose of helping wizards in their quest for time."_

 _Harry was amazed by the vision his mind had created while Mr Weasley was speaking, "I wish I could see it."  
_

 _Mr Weasley beamed at him, "I'm certain you will Harry, one day."_

 _"Now, to finish the story. Once the construction was completed, it was decided that a way should be found to inform wizards of the correct time. Not everyone could just hop to the ICW and find out for themselves, after all." said Arthur._

 _"So, in regards to Britain, it was decided that the Wizarding Wireless Network would inform them of the correct time, every day. They chose to do this right before the news hour, at High Tea time. It is called the Wizarding Hour, and it has ever since been a time when a family gets together to hear the news, listen to some music, and enjoy some tea. It's tradition, Harry." Mr Weasley smiled._

 _"And it begins at five." Harry said._

 _"Right you are." Mr Weasley said. "Now, let's turn on the wireless. Molly and the children will be in soon."_

* * *

Harry smiled a sad smile at the memory. Feeling a pair of arms wrapping around his waist, he turned his head halfway and enjoyed a brief but loving kiss. He melted into the embrace, feeling suddenly quite tired.

"Now, now, none of that, it's nearly five you know. It's time."

Harry sighed, but mustered up a brief smile, "Of course I know. How could I forget."

* * *

 **A/N: This is something that I wrote in an hour, when I came up with the idea, and had a bit of inspiration. It's a draft version, no beta, so I hope it isn't too awful. I have never written before. I do have some good ideas, but I find it hard to write them down so they make sense. Any and all comments and advice are appreciated.**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **-SoY**


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